The International Crops Research Institute of the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) has been entrusted with handholding and mentoring of 10 business planning and development (BPD) units by the International Council of Agricultural Research.
The BPD units will be set up as part of the National Agricultural Innovation Project at five ICAR research institutes and five state agricultural universities, in Mumbai, New Delhi, Izatnagar, Kolkata, Kochi, Gujarat, Jabalpur, Coimbatore, Ranchi and Hisar.
The initiative will set up a network of agri-business incubators across the country to encourage new agri-entrepreneurs, tap into a pool of commercial technologies and thereby maximise benefits to farmers. NAIP-ICAR has invested about Rs 40 crore for the overall programme and has granted Rs 2.3 crore for Icrisat.